124 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



glue having been applied as yet. Both the winding 

 and the yet soft glue permit the strips to slide, one 

 upon another, as you bend the joint; and to remain 

 approximately in whatever was the form when the 

 bending force was interrupted, because also they 

 hold the strips from slipping back into their original 

 position, until a counteracting force is applied. 

 Bend the joint into an S shape and so it remains 

 until bent some other way. Thus it is that this time 

 of gluing up is the most advantageous time for mold- 

 ing the completed joints straight. 



Get a small camel's-hair brush, not over one-half 

 inch wide or better, the stiffer, Siberian ox-hair 

 kind that paint stores carry and have your glue 

 in readiness, the container resting in the saucepan 

 of water which is kept warm over a convenient oil- 

 or gas-heater or on the kitchen coal-range. Loose 

 the strips of your joint from the 

 winding that has bound them since 

 they were finished. The writer uses 

 Barbour's linen-thread obtained 

 at the dry-goods store number 25 

 for all except top-joints, and number 

 40 for these; and he makes use of 

 the one piece for temporary binding 

 Doubled winding- and for the winding-thread used in 



I with noose glu | ng jj^ ^^ doubled) and 



made long enough to wind the whole length of the 

 joint, has a slip-noose turned in its looped end. 



